Every day for a year, starting on my 49th birthday, I did something I've never done before.
Now that I've completed that project, here's more of my adventures.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Weed Through

The rain (remnants of Hurricane Isaac) started Friday morning. It lasted all day yesterday and a good chunk of today. We got between four and five inches; most of it came down as the good, soaking rain we hadn't had for months.

This summer's hot weather and drought did a number on our lawn. Now there are vast sections of dead turf with clumps of grass. And weeds. When the temperature was close to 100 degrees I didn't venture outside to remove any of the little green aliens. Our two days worth of rain sent them into a growing frenzy. The biggest offenders, spread out like carpets, were crab grass, spurge, and oxalis, but there were also dandelions and nut sedge poking up into the air.

This afternoon I grabbed a bucket and a trowel and started pulling and digging my way across the yard.

I think weeding by hand is gratifying. You grab the stem close to the soil and pull. If you're lucky the whole thing pulls out easily. Nothing's better than a clump of dirt and roots hanging off the bottom of a weed. If that doesn't work, a quick thrust of the trowel takes care of the root. The remains go in the trash, and you're on to the next one.

I filled up the gallon-sized bucket with weeds from the front yard (and probably could have done two more, but the sun came out from behind the clouds and made it uncomfortable), dumped it in the yard waste trash can, and moved to the back yard. The house's shadow covered much of the area, making it much cooler. There was only one problem... mosquitoes! In ten minutes I was covered in bites, so even though I hadn't made a dent in the weeds I quit. I counted nine bites, all on my left arm and left leg, which might be a new record. I guess they liked the rain, too!

Although still hot here in Fresno, the temps have settled into the 90s, it's not scorching hot from morning to night with no cool-down. We can now open the windows in the mornings for a couple of hours. Our AC only ran for little over an hour yesterday, so much better than the 9 hours each day of the previous weeks. We have sprinklers so have kept our lawn green. during this hot, hot summer. Will be interesting to see what the fall brings here.

I'm looking forward to that! We turned the AC off for a while over the weekend based on the temperature; however when the humidity was factored in it was WAY too sticky in the house. The air went back on.

About Me

Welcome! Thanks for visiting my blog.
I live in Manchester, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis) with my husband. Our three boys are all grown and out of the house. We also have two cats who keep us amused with their antics.